Before she was famous, Kim Kardashian had a successful eBay business

Kim Kardashian would make
a profit by cleaning out her celebrity friends' closets and
selling their clothes on eBay.Michael
Loccisano/Getty Images for eBay

Today, Kim Kardashian runs an empire.

The 34-year-old is an executive producer on her family's hit,
long-running reality show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians,"
which was recently renewed at E! for a reported $100 million for the next four years.

Despite her cushy upbringing in Calabasas, California,
Kardashian says she always had a job throughout her teenage
years.

Kardashian began her career in retail, telling Variety in a new interview:

I worked at a clothing store for four years. I loved it.
When I turned 16, my dad made me sign a contract — he made us
sign contracts for everything — that if I hit my car, I would be
responsible for paying for it. I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic,
and I tapped someone. It was so not a big deal, but I had to pay
for it. It was during the O.J. trial. They saw my last name and
said, “Kardashian, your dad’s that lawyer?!” They sued me for a
lot of money. After I paid them back, I kept on working to buy
myself some clothes.

Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

After working in stores, Kim soon discovered a whole new world of
online shopping — and selling.

I discovered eBay and I loved
shopping. I had to be on a budget. I didn’t have credit cards.
How do I figure out how to make this a business? I remember I
bought these Manolo Blahnik shoes that were $700. He [Kim's late
father, Robert] let me buy five pairs. I had to pay him back plus
interest. I sold every pair on eBay for $2,500. I became so
obsessed with seeing that return, I would sell off the things I
wouldn’t be wearing.

Kardashian explains that she made such a profit off of the shoes
because she had a good eye for trends and what people would want
to buy.

"They were these Manolo Blahniks that Jennifer Lopez had worn in
her first or second video," Kardashian explains. "Everyone had to
have them. I called at the right time and the girl at the store
had five pairs and I took them."

Feedback provided on her second
and third sales ever note she offered "exquisite Dior boots" and
"authentic Louis Vuitton."

Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for
eBay

In 2006, a then unknown
Kardashian was even featured on pal Paris Hilton's reality show
"The Simple Life" as the heiress' closet organizer.

FOX/"The
Simple Life"

Your browser does not support the video tag.
FOX/"The Simple Life"

"My closet business came about when I was
at my godparents' house, Sugar Ray Leonard and his wife
Bernadette," Kardashian explained to Player Magazine in 2006. "Bernadette's closet was
massive and had so much stuff in it. I said to her, 'You really
need to clean out your closet.' Well, we spent the whole night
doing that."

"Kim convinced Bernadette to
sell the designer clothing on eBay rather than throw it away,"
explained Player magazine. "She was so successful at it that Bernadette
started recommending Kim to her friends. Soon, celebrities like
Kenny G, and Rob Lowe and his wife, started hiring her. Before
long, Kim was organizing and cleaning out closets for everyone
from Cindy Crawford to Serena Williams, as well as friends like
Nicky Hilton and Nicole Richie. Her clients jokingly tagged
her with the moniker, 'Queen of the Closet Scene.'"

Despite her big eBay sales, Kim was criticized
in December 2013 for
holding a charitable auction for disaster relief in the Phillipines
following Typhoon Haiyan — but only donating 10% of the profits.

Kardashian addressed the issue
on her blog, saying "I don't publicize
everything I do to help charities and people all over the
world."

"My dad always taught me the importance of giving back. I don't
publicize everything I do to help charities and people all over
the world. I do it because I want to. I do it because my dad
taught me to. I do it because it's the right thing to do. So for
people to attack me for giving 10% of my eBay auction sales to
the people of the Philippines, that hurts.

She also explained how eBay breaks down auction
profits:

In regards to these eBay auctions, when the eBay numbers get
broken down, the auction management agency that posts for me gets
a percentage for all of their hard work, then eBay listing fees,
end of auction fees, eBay Store fees, Paypal fees, etc., all add
up to about half of the sale. Then I give 10% to a charity. Over
the last 5+ years, I have listed thousands of items on eBay
Giving Works for various causes. I will continue to do what is in
my heart and am happy to know many others have enjoyed purchasing
from me, as they too are giving with me.

When not selling their used goods online, the Kardashian sisters
also have clothing store Dash, which sells trendy, new womenswear.

Founded in 2006 by Kim, Kourtney and Khloe,
there are currently
three Dash boutiques across the U.S. including Miami Beach, New
York City, and Los Angeles.

Marc Stamas/Getty Images

Kim says that when she was
first approached about a reality show, she looked at it as a way
to promote the stores.

"When the opportunity for our TV show came about, I wanted
to do it to bring attention to our stores," Kardashian
told Variety. "I was thinking this might not
last very long, but we’ll grow a great business and expand
online. I thought it would be great press. I didn’t think it
would turn into what it turned into."